1997 Suzuki Freewind XF650
By Ray Thomas raytom@melbpc.org.au
The Japanese continue to amaze me, fancy naming a bike "Freewind", for me it conjures up weird images of a bike and rider farting off into the sunset. Despite the strange name I purchased one of the first XF650's imported into Australia last year and over the past 12 months the bike and I have cruised freeways, explored dirt tracks, zipped around town, toured through the high country and played boy racer in the twisties. After 12 months there is only one word that I can use to describe the bike - FUN!
Well OK, what is a Freewind?
The Suzuki XF650 Freewind was a new release in 1997 meant to slot between Suzuki's dirt bike range and its road bike range. According to Suzuki the Freewind is a true multi purpose mount, equally at home on city streets, superhighways, winding mountain roads or unpaved shortcuts. And for once I would have to agree, Suzuki's description of the Freewind's designed use is absolutely spot on. The bike isn't meant to be a specialist dirt bike such as a Honda XR400, nor is meant to be a specialist road bike like a Honda CBR1000, its more your "go anywhere" type bike, not spectacular in one particular area, just reasonably good at everything. Or for the more cynical amongst us, a Suzuki copy of the popular BMW F650 ST.
Differences between the DR650SE and XF650The XF650 is basically derived from the 1997 Suzuki DR650SE, but there the similarity ends. The XF650 has twin 32mm carburettors, larger inlet valves, a larger horizontally mounted oil cooler, a new stronger frame with a solid die cast rear carry rack, all new Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) instruments, a wider, longer and softer seat, an 18.5 litre plastic tank, a 19 inch front wheel with low front guard and fork brace, and then of course there is the all new body work. Both bikes share the same internal gear ratios but the rear sprocket on the DR650SE is a 41 tooth against the XF650's 43 tooth - very odd, a bike meant to be ridden on the road pulls higher revs for a given speed than the dirt bike. With all these extra bits and pieces dry weight has risen from 142kg for the DR650SE to 167kg for the XF650.
Motor Characteristics
Suzuki do not quote horsepower or torque data so the actual horsepower and torque figures remain a mystery and have varied from a high of 46 ps / 37 lbft at the crank to 37 bhp / 34 lbft at the rear wheel depending on which magazine road test that you read. Regardless of the actual figures, the XF650 has about average mid range and top end power for a large air cooled single.
The Suzuki gearbox as usual is excellent. With its slightly lower overall gearing the bike will pull gently away in top gear from as low as 2,750 rpm with only mild chain snatch and has good strong acceleration (for a single) from 4,000 rpm through to the 8,000 rpm redline.
Vibration levels up to 6,000 rpm are unobtrusive but past 6,000 rpm vibration can be felt through the bars, pegs and mirrors but is never much of a concern. Certainly nowhere near the discomfort of a large 4 cylinder bike. At 110 kph (68 mph) the motor is spinning at 5,000 rpm, this is about 300 rpm higher than most other big trail bikes but helps to give good acceleration for overtaking and better flexibility at lower revs.
Fuel economy at Australia's actively enforced legal touring speeds of 100 to 110 kph (62 - 68 mph) so far has been excellent, with a high of 22 kpl (62 mpg UK, 52 mpg US) and a low of 18 kpl, this means that a safe range of over 300 km's is possible from the standard 18.5 litre tank. A range of over 300km's suits Australia well because fuel stations can be over 250km's apart in the northern parts of the country. My tank will take almost 20 litres from completely empty, however because of the way the tank curves over the central frame only about 18.5 litres appears usable. Unfortunately the LCD fuel gauge only indicates fuel tank level in 1/4 tank increments so the trip meter is still needed to monitor fuel usage when touring.
The meagre 2.6 litres oil capacity of the wet sump is similar to other big singles but the very large standard oil cooler is only one row smaller than a 1200cc Bandit's oil cooler and consequently the motor never seems to get excessively hot even in Australia's 35C-45C (95F-115F) summer temperatures.
On Road Performance
The standard Pirelli MT80 radial trail type tyres have worn exceptionally well and appear to grip in the dry as well as any street tyre I have used, but I must admit that I haven't pushed them all that hard in the wet as yet. Overall handling is excellent at all speeds, the bike turns into a corner as quick as any big trail bike and can really give a sports bike a shock on a bumpy twisty road. About the only conditions that will upset the bike is a strong headwind and that applies to any big single on the market.
Brakes are very good by trail bike standards with a dual piston calliper and 300mm floating single disk on the front and single piston calliper with 240mm disk at the rear. As good as the brakes are they are still not up to the standard of the newer sports bikes and could probably use a change to braided hose on the front. The rear is definitely strong enough and doesn't need any modifying.
Suspension travel reflects the designed use of the Freewind and is half way between a road bike and a trail bike with 170mm on the front and 167mm on the rear. On the down side, the suspension is very odd, the front is quite firmly sprung and damped to limit nose dive under brakes, but the rear is very soft even by trail bike standards. Standard measured spring sag with my 90kgs on board is approximately 30% at the front and 50% at the rear, not much of a problem at the front but the rear spends half its life on the suspension bump stop rubber. Naturally one of the first things to be done was to firm the rear spring up quite a lot, fortunately it is only a 45 minute job to remove the rear shock, wind the spring down and then refit the shock. It really makes you wonder how a company like Suzuki could get the suspension so wrong. There is absolutely no doubt that what the bike really needs is to junk the standard Suzuki rear shock and fit a decent aftermarket shock such as an Ohlins - unfortunately not many riders have that sort of money to spend on a shock absorber.
From the Riders Seat
The small windscreen does a half reasonable job of deflecting the wind over my 188 cm (6'2") frame but with its wide handlebars the bike definitely needs some wind deflectors for the hands. The bars themselves are rubber mounted and have large weights on their ends so vibration never seems to be a problem with my hands or mirrors.
The seat would have to be one of the widest seats around for a trail bike but despite its good looks the relationship between the handlebars, foot pegs and seat tends to almost lock you into one position which, depending on your body size, could be good or bad. For a tall person like myself it is quite comfortable with long distance touring possible without finishing the day a virtual cripple.
If you do decide to do some touring the LCD instruments have a mode select button for you to play with when you are getting a bit sleepy. Actually the LCD display is one of the better ones that I have seen being easily readable day or night with a bar graph style tacho, crude fuel gauge, large digital speedo, odometer and trip meter. Pity it doesn't have a clock though.
For night riding the headlight isn't TOO bad, nor is it particularly inspiring, probably something to do with the pretty (smiling mouth) headlight shape. The high beam is nice and wide but lacks enough penetration and height to make it unusable at speeds higher than 100kph and then there is the old story of "where did the lights go" when you approach a tight corner. If Honda can make decent headlights why can't the other manufacturers?
Nice Touches
The standard exhaust, although rather quiet and heavy looking, is made out of stainless steel for a much longer life. The choke is a cable type that is mounted vertically next to the ignition key and works just like every other choke. The seat is quickly and easily removed with the ignition key via a clever combination seat lock and helmet lock on the left side of the bike. There is a small storage area under the rear luggage rack that is big enough for your tools and a pair of plastic wet weather pants. The die cast rear luggage rack is strong enough to use for picking the bike off the ground, so should be strong enough for most luggage requirements. For the tourer there are four hooks on the rear sub frame for securing luggage onto the luggage rack. And finally, the battery is a good size no maintenance item that hasn't failed me yet - what else can you say about a battery?.
Options and Accessories
For the vertically challenged, the bike can be lowered 30 mm front and rear by repositioning a spacer in the front suspension and by changing a spacer and mounting point in the rear suspension. And for people like me who believe that all chain drive bikes should have a centre stand, an optional centre stand is available from Suzuki. Unfortunately, unlike the BMW F650, Suzuki doesn't offer panniers or top box as an accessory however Givi now sells a neat top box installation that will accept a range of top boxes from 29 litres to 45 litres. The only other accessories available here in Australia, that I am aware of, are a Bagster (French) leather tank cover with 20 litre tank bag and a Ventura (NZ) rear rack and soft 40 litre bag.
Maintenance
One of my criteria for buying a bike has always been that any periodic maintenance is to be relatively simple and able to be performed by myself at home with the average home workshop tool kit.
The Freewind is definitely an easy bike to service. Oil changes come every 6,000 km and oil filter changes at 12,000 km with everything easily accessible. Tappets are the usual screw and nut affair with adjustment every 12,000 km and requires removal of the tank (being careful not to pinch the crankcase breather hose). Both plugs can easily be removed without disturbing any body work and the air filter is the usual dirt bike style reusable oiled foam element easily accessible with the seat removed.
The rear wheel chain adjustment is a breeze and the rear wheel can be easily removed and replaced without losing chain adjustment. Front wheel removal with the optional centre stand is also dead simple, but if you haven't bought the centre stand then you have problems.
As mentioned earlier the rear shock can be removed and replaced in about 45 minutes but the front forks need to be removed from the bike and dismantled for oil changes - no drain holes.
An odd side effect of the plastic tank is that the tank cover has about a 5mm gap between it and the tank which allows air from under the fairing to pass over the tank and probably on to the air cleaner. It also allows bugs to follow the same path so when the fairing is removed there are piles of dead bugs between the tank and its cover.
Modifications
After firming up the rear shock spring the next thing on the bike that HAD to be changed was that ridiculous looking piece of plastic that wraps around the rear wheel, out came the old trusty hacksaw and a much smaller chain guard was the end result. I can't quite work out what that piece of plastic around the rear wheel is meant to do, the BMW F650 has it, so too does the GS1100, and even the first (Australian) model Suzuki TS1000 had one so there must be a reason. As far as I am concerned all it does is get in the way when I am trying to adjust the chain or remove the rear wheel.
A recent addition has been the fitting of a much needed Givi top box, it turned out to be a 10 minute job and works quite well. As the top box sits quite high on the bike I will just have to remember not to go overboard with how much gear I put in the top box when I go touring. At least the seat is nice and long and has lots of room for strapping on tents and things.
I may put a Metzler ME33 front and MEZ2 rear tyre on when the current tyres wear out (very soon), maybe some Acerbis brush guards with wind deflectors, a Scott Oiler will definitely get the nod soon and maybe some rubber boots for the front forks. Other than that I am pretty much satisfied with the Freewind and wouldn't bother trying to change a good thing.
What will I buy next time?
If I had the money it would have to be a BMW GS1100 - but I can't justify spending that much money on a second bike, maybe the BMW F650 ST. Although with a Freewind selling for A$3,000 less than a F650 in Australia the decision would be a very difficult one even with the crappy standard rear suspension on the Freewind.
So far, I'm happy with the Freewind and don't intend selling the bike for a while yet. At the moment the XF sits very nicely alongside my 750cc 4 cylinder road bike in the back shed. All that is needed now is to convince my long suffering wife that I absolutely need a specialised dirt bike like the Yamaha WR400 or TT600R to fill that gaping hole in my (hopefully) growing motorcycle collection. Otherwise how can I do that desert trip up the Gunbarrel Highway that I have been quietly planning for the past couple of months.
Other Freewind Tests.
http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcsuz/freewind.html
England: Performance Bikes, October 1997 Bike, November 1997
Australia: Australian Motorcycle News, January 9, 1998
Australian Dirt Bike, August 1997
Engine 4 stroke, air/oil cooled, SOHC, 4 valves Bore & Stroke 100 x 82 mm Displacement 644 cc Compression ratio 9.5:1 Carburation BSR32 x 2 Oil Capacity 2.6 litres Horsepower 46 ps (claimed) Torque 5.115 kg/m(claimed) Max revs 8,000 rpm Ignition digital CDI Starter electric leg Lubrication wet sump Transmission 5 speed Frame semi double cradle (NOT a modified DR650 frame) Rake/trail 28 deg / 105mm Suspension front telescopic, 43mm forks, no adjustment 170 / 140* mm claimed travel Suspension rear link type, adj. spring preload and comp. damping 167 / 132* mm claimed travel Wheels front 2.50 x 19 inches Wheels rear 3.00 x 17 inches Brakes front 300 mm floating single disc with dual piston calliper Brakes rear 240 mm single disc with single piston calliper Tyres front 100/90 - 19 Pirelli MT80 Tyres rear 130/80 - 17 Pirelli MT80RS Fuel tank 18.5 litres (incl reserve of 4.5 litres) Overall length 2205 mm Overall width 865 mm Overall height 1230 mm Wheelbase 1465 mm Ground clearance 200 / 170* mm Seat height 830 / 800* mm Dry weight 162 kg claimed * indicates suspension lowering kit installed.
Ray Thomas raytom@melbpc.org.au
